As Beca mentioned in her blog entry, this weekend we went to an introductory class at Yoga Tree. It was a wake-up call, I can tell you. Ouch.
But, after a couple days of rest, I was back to normal...mostly.
So, last night we went to our first full class. Now, mind you, it was a class listed in the schedule as "good for beginning students." Even so, we were a bit nervous.
We were good and didn't eat all afternoon, and tried to drink water throughout the day "so the water's in your body, not your stomach." We arrived early, and eased into the warm-up exercises without any problems...
...then, an hour later, we were both in trouble. I was not only feeling a bit faint, but also nauseous. I really hit the wall doing a pose called "thread the needle" in which, on your back, you pull one leg up toward your chest. This puts lots of pressure on your...uh...intestines and stomach, and I really wanted someone to come by and just smother me with a pillow.
Instead, the instructor came by, saw me flailing and showed me a simpler version of the pose that did make it easier on my legs, but still put pressure on my gastrointestinal tract. Did I mention that I was completely covered in flop sweat? Did I mention the heat of two dozen people in an enclosed room for an hour?
I was claustrophobic, overheated, about to pass out and ready to barf. But my spirit never felt so free! OK, that last bit was extremely sarcastic. And no one was coming by with the pillow!
Even the relaxing "cool down" at the end of the class was uncomfortable. I just needed to get out into the cool night air and get away from the stifling heat!
Finally, the magic word "namaste" released us from the hot-house of the downward facing dog.
There wasn't anything significantly different from the introductory class we did Saturday, aside from the length of time we actually spent posing. Fully half of the intro class was spent talking about yoga. Last night we spent the whole two hours doing yoga.
So, next we're going to try the "relaxing" yoga class. That's what I want. The yoga class with all the old people in it. Yes, slow, relaxing yoga.
I'll let you know how the next one goes...